LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The History Channel’s “Ice Road Truckers” star Lisa Kelly made a visit to the 2013 Mid-America Trucking Show here to promote the Worldtrucker smartphone app and website.

As a “global ambassador” for Worldtrucker, Kelly was one of the first to use the website and app, and called it the “best online trucker community in the world.”

She said the site and app will enable truckers everywhere to share their passion for trucks and life on the road, with 20,000 currently in the community and 23 markets globally.

The website and app are powered by Volvo Trucks and Paula Kühnel, Volvo Trucks online communication manager, said, “Truck drivers are the experts on life on the road and this website and app were developed both by them and for them.”

A chat function in the app helps drivers find and contact other drivers who may be nearby. It was developed based on data gathered from drivers at truck stops and through online surveys.

Kühnel explained that the app is “both an extension of the websie and an effective social tool for truck drivers to generate and share content directly from the road — from photos uploaded from their mobile phone to useful tips about good rest areas or safe places to park.”

Volvo Trucks hopes to increase interest in truck driving as a profession and recruit new drivers through the new site and app “to address a worldwide driver shortage,” the OEM stated in a news release.